•Duke is consistently ranked among the top ten universities nationally.
•Duke’s 14,600 students are diverse and come from 127 countries.
•Half of Duke’s students receive financial aid. The average financial aid award is about $38,000. The average student’s debt at graduation is $18,500, or about $11,000 less than the national average.
•Half of Duke students complete faculty-mentored research; 77 percent intern before graduation; and 43 percent participate in global education.
•The median salary for Duke alumni is the sixth highest among all U.S. universities.
Not true. Actually, the graduation rates for student-athletes for the general undergraduate populations are – and have been for years – essentially indistinguishable, varying between 97 and 98 percent. You may feel that is counterintuitive, however, please consider that Duke:
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Has rather stringent admissions standards, including those for student athletes;
Provides considerable resources to help students graduate;
Requires the Athletic Department (at the team level) to monitor and, as necessary, to enhance individual academic progress; and
In aggregate, has MANY more Olympic than Revenue sports student-athletes.
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The fact is, in some years the overall student-athlete graduation rate has slightly exceeded the general undergraduate population’s, and many teams boast consistent 100 percent graduation rates, year after year.
FYI, one area that differs is the time required to graduate; for non-varsity-athletes this averages four years, but for some sports it averages five years (also, quite a few intercollegiate athletes actually receive Bachelor’s degrees in four years, but use the fifth year of NCAA eligibility to pursue subsidized graduate studies).
Two points, for your edification:
a. That 8:1 student to faculty ratio includes (as it does for all schools) some outstanding faculty members who never see a classroom (for example, medical researchers – often brilliant – who have full faculty stature and who may work with many students, but don’t “teach” in the traditional sense). Still, your point is fundamentally correct and classes (especially after the first few semesters) tend to be SMALL.
b. Don’t get too focused on “salary;” in some recent years, the single largest initial employer of Duke undergraduates was Teach for America – great experience and VERY worthwhile, but not exactly i-banking. The point, however, is you’ll have plentiful opportunities for a wide range of options . . . and the choice will be yours.
I have to wonder whether a physics PhD from Duke will open some doors on the job market (outside of industrial research or postdocs) that a physics PhD from, say, Minnesota won’t. Because I may well reconsider going at all next fall if I’m not getting into UPenn or Columbia (and Duke could be a suitable alternative next cycle)
I know very well that 1) continuing in research post-PhD is far from guaranteed and 2) research output and quality outweighs departmental/institutional prestige if one elects to stay in research.
@Catria: I’m not an academic (although I have served on several key Duke Boards and Executive Committees that have considerable faculty and Provost/Dean-level interface). Therefore, I will offer only one comment for your consideration: Duke’s network, nationally and globally, is both extensive and disproportionately populated by highly accomplished individuals, in every discipline and endeavor. I believe this is a substantial resource that might not be as available through a fine, large, midwestern, flagship university. Physics PhD are not required to “practice physics;” other professional avenues are viable for individuals with a strong intellectual background, documented work ethic, and character, IF they are able to demonstrate their potential at the appropriate level.
